Summary: If you have problems when importing Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM MP4 files to Final Cut Pro 7 or FCP 7 while XDCAM Transfer plugin not working, you can follow this tutorial to convert EX1 footage to Apple ProRes MOV to achieve your goal smoothly.

The Sony PMW-EX1's excellent image quality and slick SxS solid-state recording make it a one-of-a-kind solution for professional videographers. It captures video images via three 1/2-inch CMOS sensors and processes this information into a variety of video formats but they are all HD. If you require standard- definition video then all you have to do is down convert when you play out from the camera to your capture device. However, many users have problems when importing Sony EX1 files into Final Cut Pro X or FCP 7 for editing, as follows:

Q1: "Why do I get a green band (no image/no sound) when exporting MP4's from my Sony EX1 in FCP X? - I have just bought Final Cut Pro X. I am filming with a Sony EX1 in Full HD - Codecs is MPEG-4 Video, Linear PCM.

I am kind of freaking out as when I import the files into FCP X all I am getting is a green band with no image no sound. When I import my GoPro footage it works fine. I have hundreds of gigs of footage to cut and make trailers and I don't seem to get any image or sound out of my files."

Q2. "Am using FCP for the first time with EX1 BPAV folders and cannot import the contents to edit. I am confused by Sony software. FCP7 on MacPro with Snow Leopard is my system."

In fact, you need an exporting tool to get the original MP4 files rewrapped and then you can transfer Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM files to Final Cut Pro X or FCP 7. An here Sony's XDCAM EX Clip Brower is required, which can edit metadata and transfer the media to a hard drive for later importation. When it goes to the XDCAM EX Clip Brower rewarp workflow, you have two ways. The first one is that you can take Sony XDCAM EX Clip Brower as a plug-in within FCP and then import and edit the original files via it. The other way is to make it as stand alone, thus you can create the MXF files and save it on your HDD. The second way is highly recommended in case of the loss of data and you can keep the .mxf files for other usage. When you get the rewrap clips and want to edit PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX rewrapped MXF files in Final Cut Pro, you will meet the incompatiblity problem, since the FCP can not support the .mxf video files.

In this situation, the best method is to convert rewrapped MXF files (or the original MP4 files) to ProRes codec, which ensures maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with Final Cut Pro X and FCP 7. It's a great way to achieve your goal smoothly. For this purose, this article will show you how to transcode Sony EX1 files to ProRes MOV in detail.

The quick woraround is to use the easy-to-use yet professional app called Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac which can used under OS X Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.. It is free, clean and safe to install and use. With it, you can effortlessly transcode Sony EX1 original MP4 files or rewrapped MXF files to ProRes MOV for editing smoothly in Final Cut Pro 7 and FCP 7. It works well and converts flawlessly.

1. If you want to merge MXF files, just need to check the “Merge into one” box.2. You shouldn't move the single MXF video out of the whole MXF whole structure folder, or the MXF video would loss some metadata, such as sound.

Tips: You'd better click settings to set the video frame rate as 30fps, video size as 1920*1080 to keep the best quality for editing in Final Cut Pro if the 60i/30fps is your original frame rate. But if you shoot with 50i/25fps, then 25fps as the frame rate will be your best choice when conversion.

So there you have it. Pretty simple. After the workflow, you can go to the output folder to find the converted video files. Now you are free to log and transfer or import/edit Sony PMW-EX1 files in Final Cut Pro X or FCP 7 under Mac without problems.

Additional Tips:

1. If you are also a FCP X user, before you try to do the conversion, don’t forget to make sure that you have installed the Apple ProRes Codec manually since the FCP X asks users to install it by themselves.

2. If you want to edit Sony EX1 files in iMovie, you just need to choose the "iMovie and Final Cut Express -> Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov)" in the second step.